


4 Times Ludger Was the 3rd Wheel, and the 1 Time He Wasn't

by ozuma



Category: Tales of Xillia, Tales of Xillia 2
Genre: Alvin is a jerk, Awkward Ludger, Awkward situations, Crack, Embarrassed Jude, M/M, Misunderstandings, Non-Consensual Groping, Public Display of Affection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-03
Updated: 2015-09-03
Packaged: 2018-04-18 19:22:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4717562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ozuma/pseuds/ozuma
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes Ludger wondered if he was just doomed to end up in awkward situations like this.</p>
            </blockquote>





	4 Times Ludger Was the 3rd Wheel, and the 1 Time He Wasn't

**Author's Note:**

> This fic came about as the result of a hilarious Twitter conversation. I just had to write this afterward.
> 
> Major thanks to cherrim for her help on this!
> 
> Awkward Ludger is best Ludger.

Sometimes Ludger wondered if he was just doomed to end up in awkward situations like this.

After finishing up their business at Helioborg and confirming that Exodus had left the premises, everyone had decided it was a good idea to take a break before calling it a day.

“Have you see Jude? Or Alvin?” Elize asked as she packed away her lunch.

Ludger shook his head. Now that she mentioned it, they had both disappeared a while ago. He wondered where they’d wandered off to. They wouldn’t have left Helioborg without telling them first, he was pretty sure.

And so, being the kind soul that he was, Ludger volunteered to go looking for them.

Little did he know what he was about to get himself into.

He was on the 10th floor, which still had only its emergency lighting on, walking down the darkened hallway when he heard someone.

“…sorry. …worried…”

Ludger wasn’t quite sure why, but he instinctively slowed down as he approached the direction from which the voices seemed to originate from. They were too muffled to quite identify at this point.

“…called you….”

As he turned the corner, he located the source of the voices: a small door toward the end of the hall. As he snuck closer, the muffled voices became clearer.

“I remember,” the voice paused. The speaker sounded like he was out of breath. “You left a ton of voice mails.”

“Damn right I did,” another voice said.

Against his better judgement, Ludger reached out for the door knob and opened it.

He stopped dead in his tracks, his hand still on the door. It took a second for him to process the scene before him.

His arms around Alvin’s shoulders and back against the wall of the small storage closet, Jude looked like he was hanging on for his life. His legs were wrapped around Alvin’s waist, seemingly to allow him to repeatedly thrust his hips against Alvin. Meanwhile Alvin was supporting Jude with his arms around his lower waist while kissing him.

To say that they were _just_ kissing wouldn’t quite accurately describe what they were doing, though.

More like Alvin was trying to see if he could count Jude’s teeth with just his tongue and double-checking to make sure.

Ludger sincerely wished that he’d knocked first.

It took a second for them to notice Ludger. Slowly both of their gazes turned toward him as Jude pulled his head back, away from Alvin.

“S-sorry!” Ludger stepped back, practically tripping over his own feet. He’d definitely walked into something he wasn’t meant to see.

Surprised, Alvin practically dropped his partner, though Jude was quick enough to let himself down slowly with his legs against the opposite wall. They were both staring at Ludger now, a blush all too apparent on Jude’s cheeks while Alvin just looked surprised.

“L-Ludger! Um…” Jude shrank back against the storage closet wall as though he could slip through and hide himself.

Alvin ran a hand through his hair in exasperation. “Funny running into you here…”

“Yeah…” Ludger laughed nervously, suddenly wishing he’d never volunteered to go looking for them in the first place.

And so Ludger found himself in on a secret he’d never intended to uncover. It turned out that Jude and Alvin were ‘in a relationship,’ the nature of which neither of them could quite explain. For the sake of avoiding awkwardness they’d kept it a secret until they were ready to tell the rest of their group. The nature of their relationship seemed clear enough to Ludger, but he declined to voice that particular thought.

In the end, Ludger was asked to keep their relationship a secret and not tell anyone what he saw. That part of this whole situation, Ludger didn’t have a problem with. He was pretty good at keeping his lips sealed.

Unfortunately, things only got more awkward after that.

* * *

 

“This is really good!” Alvin managed to say between mouthfuls of pasta.

“T-thanks…” Ludger rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

After everyone had heard about his legendary cooking prowess, Ludger had kindly offered to cook everyone dinner. Yet when the planned night arrived, everyone seemed to have other arrangements prevent them from attending. Only Alvin and Jude showed up, apologizing on everyone else’s behalf and asking if Ludger was still okay cooking for two. Ludger figured it was an unlucky coincidence but didn’t mind. All he had to do was remove the extra plates he’d set out on the table in his apartment.

“Yeah, this is amazing!” Jude said as he took another bite.

Ludger laughed nervously at their praise before excusing himself to head back to his room and change out of the shirt he’d splashed some tomato sauce on. He’d only just started rummaging through his closet when he heard their voices floating over from the other room.

“Watch it there, kid. You’ll choke on something at this rate.

Jude said something that Ludger couldn’t quite catch.

“Then again, I guess you _are_ pretty good with your gag reflex.”

“Alvin!”

Ludger went back to looking through his closet while doing his best to not overhear their conversation. It wasn’t working.

“Might wanna wipe that sauce off of your face.”

“Oh-oh, right.”

There was a long pause before Ludger heard Jude’s voice again.

“A-Alvin, I don’t need you to lick it off-”

Another pause.

“We _are_ in Ludger’s apartment. Come on, Alvin.”

Yet another pause.

“So? I’m sure he won’t mind.” A pause. “Besides, you’re so cute when you’re like this…”

Ludger heard the sound of a chair being scooted across the floor. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know what was happening now. As tempted as he was to peek out of his door, he’d already accidently walked in on them once before. Best to play it safe. He made sure to take his time before stepping out of his room. By then, his guests had cleared their plates and Jude was blushing furiously and rubbing at his neck while Alvin had his best poker face on.

“Thanks for the meal, Ludger. It was really, really good.” Jude said as he stood up from his chair hastily. He seemed shy all of a sudden.

Jude offered to help Ludger clean up, but Ludger insisted that he was fine on his own. He could tell by the looks Jude and Alvin were exchanging that they had other plans.

“We should get going anyway,” Alvin added as he also rose from his seat.

“Y-yeah,” Jude added. “Alvin just… remembered he’d forgotten something at his apartment.”

“Yeah, something like that.” Alvin put his arm around Jude’s shoulders and pulled him close. Jude’s face was practically beet red by now.

They both thanked him again before making for the door.

“Well, guess we’ll see you later. Thanks again, Ludger.” Alvin’s grin was all too apparent as he closed the door to Ludger’s apartment.

Ludger sighed. Well, at least he knew that Jude wouldn’t be answering his GHS for the rest of the night.

* * *

 

“Alvin, watch out!” Ludger yelled as the monster they were fighting turned its attention toward Alvin.

Alvin managed to sort of dodge the first wave of the attack, but that left him open for the monster to send him flying with its tail.

Ludger made the split second decision to transform into his Chromatus form and finish off the monster before it could go in for the kill.

After swiftly dispatching the monster and changing back to normal, Ludger turned his attention back to Alvin.

Jude was already at Alvin’s side to heal any wounds he’d incurred.

“Hold still for a second, okay? I’ll check for any internal bleeding.” Jude immediately started concentrating on casting a healing arte.

“T-thanks, kid…”

“Don’t be so reckless, Alvin. Geez…”

Alvin laughed off Jude’s warning. “Come on, Jude. You know it’d take more than that to take me out.” He sat up a bit so that they were face to face.

“It’s easy to say that _now_.” Jude sounded like a parent scolding a child.

“Don’t give me that look, kid. You’ll make me feel like the bad guy.” Alvin reached up to run a hand through Jude’s hair.

“Just… be more careful, okay?” Jude was still focused on healing Alvin. “Better safe than sorry, right? You really had me worried, there.”

“Now you’re definitely making me feel bad.” He moved his hand down to tenderly stroke Jude’s cheek. “I’ll try to be more careful from now on. Deal?”

Jude smiled. “Deal.”

Alvin pulled Jude close into a hard, forceful kiss as though to emphasize his promise.

Ludger decided now was a good time to find Milla and Elle, who Milla had run to check on as soon as the battle had ended. It turned out they were both standing by a tree nearby. Milla headed in his direction before he could go to meet her, however.

“Everything okay? That monster was really annoying,” Milla remarked as she walked toward him, Elle following close behind.

Ludger nodded while hoping to distract them from the scene behind him. “Let’s head back to town-”

“Um, what are Jude and Alvin doing?” Elle asked as she peeked around Ludger.

“Hm? What do you…” Milla finally saw what Elle was referring to. “Oh! Well…” She grabbed Elle squarely by the shoulders and turned her around. “Let’s head back to town like Ludger said, Elle. I think Jude and Alvin are just…”

“Healing up after the battle,” Ludger supplied as he followed them.

“Huh? But Jude was totally kiss-”

“Back. To. Town.” Mila insisted.

Ludger spent the rest of the day answering Elle’s uncomfortably shrewd questions. It didn’t help that Milla kept correcting his explanations.

* * *

 

“Good night,” Jude said before turning in for the night.

“Good night,” Ludger replied before setting down on the nice, soft pillows in the luxurious Hotel Fenn room that Gaius had so graciously reserved for everyone.

It had been a terribly long day and he was glad to finally be able to just lie down for the night. He was so exhausted he pretty much passed out as soon as his head hit the pillows. At the very least, he could look forward to a nice hotel breakfast tomorrow.

Ludger was jolted awake by a sudden noise from the other side of the room. He pulled the covers further over his head, wondering just how late it was. Not wanting to open his eyes, he listened for another noise before deciding to just ignore it and try to get back to sleep. He had almost slipped back under when he felt the bed’s queen sized mattress sinking from something or someone else’s weight.

He hoped he was imagining things. He _had_ to be imagining things. Everyone had gotten a room with two beds. Maybe Jude had gotten up and had slipped into the wrong bed on his way back. If that was the case, he didn’t really care.

It probably was Jude, he convinced himself. They’d have a laugh about it in the morning.

He was sure of his guess… until he felt someone’s hand on his ass. Surprised, he tensed up, his back going straight as a board. He exhaled sharply but otherwise did his best to keep silent. He wasn’t sure if he should turn around or not.

Whoever it was, they were determined in whatever it was they’d set out to do. He felt his mystery visitor scoot closer and then the hand was back. This time it moved from his ass to his stomach where his pajama shirt was slightly pulled up from moving around in the soft sheets.

Ludger squeezed his eyes shut, his mind racing as he tried to think of what to do. He could move away or…

The hand had reached the front of his pajama pants and the elastic tie at the front. That was enough to convince Ludger to grab the person’s arm by the wrist and squeeze hard.

“Ow! What the hell, Ju-”

Ludger sat up promptly in bed, the intruder’s arm still in his grip. His assailant pulled the covers back, giving Ludger a glimpse of the mystery visitor.

It definitely wasn’t Jude.

“Oh shit, Ludger! I’m sorry, I-”

“Alvin?!” Ludger let go of his arm, all annoyance forgotten.

In the darkness he could just barely make out Alvin’s horrified expression mirroring his own.

Ludger heard Jude stir in the next bed over.

“Huh? Ludger? What’s wrong?” Jude reached out to turn on the bedside lumen lamp, his eyes going wide when he realized just who was in bed with Ludger. “Alvin?! What’re you doing here?!”

“Shit, I didn’t mean to…” Alvin held up the heavy blanket as though to defend himself. “Ha ha… Guess I got the wrong bed.” He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

Not sure of what to say, Ludger turned back toward Jude, who looked equally annoyed and embarrassed.

“Wait, what were you…” Recognition flashed in Jude’s eyes. “Alvin! You have _got_ to be kidding me!” He pinched the bridge of his nose as he started to process just what was going on.

Ludger shook his head as though to tell Jude that Alvin had definitely not been kidding.

Horrified, Jude looked between Ludger and Alvin. “I’m so sorry, Ludger… I had no idea that Alvin would be _this_ desperate.” He turned to Alvin with a rare glare that Ludger had only seen a few times before.

“Er, sorry for uh…”

Ludger turned his attention back to Alvin, whose expression had turned back to one of complete horror.

“It was an honest mistake, I swear!”

Jude sighed. “If you’re going to sneak into my bed, at least make sure you’ve got the right one.”

In the end, both Jude and Alvin apologized profusely to Ludger.

“We’ll make it up to you, I promise!” Jude declared before practically dragging Alvin back out of their room.

At the moment, all Ludger could do was stare as the hotel room door closed behind Jude. He really was doomed to keep running into these kinds of situations, it seemed.

* * *

 

The next week passed by normally, though Ludger wondered just how his friends were intending to make up for what had been referred to as the “hotel incident.” Jude had sent him a text earlier in the day saying to meet him and Alvin outside of Jude’s apartment building. Just what were they planning?

Sure enough, his friends were waiting for him outside of Jude’s apartment building.

“You made it!” Jude seemed relieved to see Ludger.

Leaning against the wall nonchalantly, Alvin waved to him.

When he got closer, he noticed Jude was holding something in his hand.

“You ready for a surprise?” Jude asked as Ludger approached.

“Huh?”

Alvin winked at him. “Sorry, can’t tell you what the surprise is. That’d ruin the fun, after all.”

Jude held out a black piece of long fabric that Ludger realized was a blindfold. “We just have to put this on you first.”

“Uh…” His mind racing, he wondered what this had to do with their ‘surprise.’ A number of different scenarios flashed by in his head, none of them good. He looked between Jude and Alvin.

“You’ll like it, I swear!”

Jude’s smile seemed genuine. It wasn’t exactly reassuring.

“We don’t bite. I swear,” Alvin added.

That was even less reassuring. He was fond of them both, sure. They’d helped him countless times. But he didn’t like them in _that_ way. Was this what they really meant when they said they’d make it up to him? Make him feel more included…?

Besides, wasn't this going a bit too fast? Couldn't they at least all go for a dinner date first?

“I…” Before he could finish his sentence, his ring tone went off. Reaching into his pocket, he flipped open his phone and put it to his ear.

“Hey, Luds! What’s up? Is this a bad time?”

He’d never been so glad to hear Nova’s voice.

Pointing to his phone, he shook his head. “Sorry, I’ve got to take this.”

There was only one guaranteed escape from this situation, Ludger decided. Phone still in hand, he somehow managed an impressive back flip away. And kept going.

Jude and Alvin exchanged looks.

“Did he just…?”

“Looks like we scared him off,” Alvin said with a shrug.

Jude glanced down at the blindfold he was still holding. “You think so?”

Glancing over at the blindfold, Alvin laughed. “I think he might have gotten the wrong idea.”

“Huh? What do you mean?” And then it dawned on Jude, his eyes going wide with shock. “You don’t think he thought…”

“Looks like it.”

Jude sighed. “Guess I’ll text Leia to put away the decorations and save the cake for later.”

Jude wasn’t looking forward to the awkward moment when he’d have to explain to Ludger that this had been a complete misunderstanding.


End file.
